


The Past Haunts

by jessejackreyes



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: 76 is an international terrorist and Reaper is a vigilante, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt, M/M, McHanzo is in the background and implied at the moment, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Violence, better safe than sorry, they don't know who the other is, warning and rating are just in case
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-10-08 06:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10381074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessejackreyes/pseuds/jessejackreyes
Summary: Reaper has spent the last few years doing his best to make up for his mistakes. He lost everything in that blast, but that hasn't stopped him from trying to do right by the man he loved.Things were going okay until he encountered the infamous 76 while in Dorado. With Winston initiating an ill advised recall shortly afterwards, Reaper realizes that he may have to return to the last place he wants to be in order to protect his old family from the terrorist who seems to have a vendetta against the organization.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of two different role reversal things I am writing right now for this pairing. It starts with Reaper during the Hero short and continues past that with plenty of differences from canon. For one they don't figure out eachothers identities right away. One of my two reversals is going to end badly and I haven't decided which one yet, so I don't know if this will have a sad ending or not.

He had these punks dead to rights, at least before he spotted the grenade. Leave it to a bunch of cowardly young gangsters to bring innocents into the equation. He had a split second to consider his actions, he should continue chasing the Los Muertos bastards, they would be able to give him some information he wanted. Many more lives than just one teenaged girl were at stake in the grand scheme of things after all.

The actual choice he made did not surprise him in the slightest. The car they were using to escape him crawled further out of sight as his body broke apart into a thick black cloud, reforming protectively around the scared young girl that had stumbled onto the scene mere moments before the explosion that would have claimed her life erupted. The blast tore through him instead.

He staggered to his feet, struggling to maintain his form while his body screamed at him to fall apart and repair the damage done. It might be hours before he could regain his form if he lost it right now and he still needed to make sure the girl was okay. She stared at him with a mixture of fear and confusion, which was understandable.

The getup he had chosen was intimidating, that was the entire point of it. The long flowing black coat hid most of his features. Each of his gloves ended in long metal talons that could tear and rend flesh. His face was hidden, in part by necessity, behind a white mask fashioned in the shape of a barn owls face, a symbol of death. That was what he was as far as the world was concerned, all his enemies needed to know, after all, is that he was death incarnate and he had come for them.

Right now though, there was no one to intimidate, no one who needed to face the Reaper. There was just a scared local girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The wallet he had snagged off one the Los Muertos punks probably belonged to her he figured, so he held it out towards her tentatively. She hesitated until she noticed the only part of his getup that seemed to clash with the bringer of death routine. The Overwatch logo was emblazoned in white and yellow against the black of his jacket over where his heart should be, a reminder of what he had lost and what he chose to stand for now. The sight seemed to calm the girl as she reluctantly took the wallet proffered to her with a soft gracias and a look on her face that pained him to the core, a look he knew all too well, hope.

The ghost of a man followed her from the shadows as she made her way home, stopping to admire an old Overwatch poster on the wall. It had the strike commanders handsome face on it and boldly proclaimed them, the protectors. The young girl's eyes shone as she carefully peeled the poster away and spirited it off home with her. He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding when she finally entered her home.

This was another reminder for him that no matter his appearance or theatrics, Gabriel Reyes was still alive and trying to do the right thing. He was a monster, but he could still fight for what Overwatch stood for, what Jack had stood for. It was the only thing left for him after the explosion, after he had lost everything, after Angela brought him back with nothing but memories and pain. There was a soft smile behind the mask, at least Jack would have approved of what he had done today, even if it made things more difficult for him.

There were several souls still wafting about as he returned to the scene that he devoured quickly, restoring his form far faster than he would have managed if he had let himself fall apart. The idiots may have gotten away for the moment, but he doubted they were very good at covering their tracks, he could follow the idiots back to their base even with the head start they had.

It was quiet, quieter than the early evening should have been here as the ghost neared his destination. A warehouse that people probably avoided because the locals knew that things happened there that nobody wanted to be a part of. His body tore itself part, reforming a moderate distance away, on top of a nearby building that would give him a great view of the scene. He called the ability shadow stepping, it fit his theme after all.

Whatever was going on was much bigger than Reaper had anticipated too. The Los Muertos punks were better armed than they should have been and he can see people inside the building that were very clearly equipped for a real fight. Dark protective jackets, automatic weapons that meant business, they stalked around with purpose and focus. They were trained and disciplined and might prove more difficult than a bunch of punks with bigger guns than they could handle.

There were only four of them, but they looked like they were with Talon and that definitely complicated things. He had suspected a connection between Los Muertos and the international terrorist organization, it explained the weapons after all, this seemed to confirm it. It wasn't a part of the plan to actually interrupt some meeting between them though.

One of the few upsides of having been the leader of the world's most elite black ops organization was that he had a lot of experience and toys to aid in recon efforts. A dark little dish feeding information directly into the headset in his mask and he could clearly hear anyone he wanted across the way. He knelt at the edge of the building he chose as his perch, listening in on the activity across the way.

The gang members seemed to be useless fonts of nervous chatter. Whatever was going on here, the rank and file grunts weren't happy about it. He wasn't sure if they understood the dangers of dealing with Talon or not, they spoke too loosely for him to believe they were terrified. There didn't seem to be any communication between the two groups, he was probably too late for that,”

“Where the hell is he?” He heard one of the Talon grunts ask, clearly annoyed about whoever was missing.

“He went out. Probably to scout around the area,”

“He's supposed to be escorting us, we're ready to leave,” 

“You do something about it then. I saw what happened to the last idiot who tried to order 76 around,” the second man barked out a laugh as the first man grunted loudly. Gabriel learned two very important things in that instant. One, whatever was going on was important enough to warrant calling in the world's most wanted terrorist and two, that made the situation far more dangerous than he had expected.

“Well, well, well,” A heavily augmented voice called out from behind him, he hadn't heard the man moved get at all. “Looks like I caught a little rat,” He anticipated the shot from behind as the man spoke and his body collapsed into a cloud of nanites to avoid it mere moments before it passed through where he had just been. He could only disassemble himself for a short time before it became too difficult to regain his solid body, so he rushed quickly at the man who had shot at him as a cloud of nanites.

He had never seen 76 in person before, only the blurry photos that showed up from time to time in the news. The man wore what looked like some kind of armored biker jacket, blue and white. He knew from the pictures he'd seen and the name people had given the man that a giant red 76 sat atop the back of it. The thing that drew most of his attention though was the man’s mask. It was made of a dark metal and covered the entirety of the terrorist’s face. Gabriel could appreciate the mask’s aesthetic, it covered his face looking a lot like a scowling metal skull, eyes staring back at Gabriel through glowing red eyeholes. Only the uppermost part of his forehead and the short stark white hair atop it was visible around the mask, To finish off the look the man carried a sleek top of the line pulse rifle that he must have stolen from an old Overwatch cache, because they were rare even by that organization's standards. 

He had laughed the first time he heard of the terrorist who the public called 76, a joyless cruel laugh. The number was like a joke, a horrid coincidence. It was Gabriel's number, back when he was one of a hundred guinea pigs for the soldier enhancement program, back when he met Jack. Jack Morrison, number 75 and Gabriel Reyes, number 76. The bitter reminder left the wraith angry, no matter how much his rational mind kept telling him that it meant nothing.

So, when the Reaper reformed behind the man's back as quickly as he could with his twin shotguns in hand, the snarl he let out as he fired was understandable. The masked man seemed unphased by Reapers abilities and theatrics, that was a first, and he reacted inhumanly quickly, rolling to the side. A soft grunt escaped the terrorist’s lips as the buckshot bit deeply into his leg, but he tumbled away otherwise fine.

The speed with which the man had dodged Gabriel's shots was impressive enough, but the man recovered from his roll, turning to stand and face his assailant despite a profusely bleeding right leg that must be in agony. His weight was unevenly distributed between the legs now as His rifle aimed for Reaper’s heart, but he didn't fire the moment he had the shot lined up.

“That's a new trick,” 76 announced instead of shooting. “Who are you supposed to be?” The man was interrogating him while bleeding out, that was unexpected. Reaper should have shot him, the man was clearly very dangerous, but maybe he could get something out of him first.

“Death,” Was the answer that Reaper gave to the murderer in front of him. The man had the gall to laugh at his answer. “Who are you?”

“People call me 76,” The man shrugged at his own introduction. “You must be the Reaper those superstitious idiots were griping about,” The man seemed to take Gabriel's silence as an affirmative answer. “I know less than I thought if Overwatch had employed death himself and I wasn't aware of it,” The man laughed again, the snarl Reaper felt died in his throat when he noticed the man was no longer favoring his left leg. When and how had the man's leg healed up?

The man fired again, three shots aimed at Reaper’s chest, one that would have pierced his heart if he had not dissolved again into a swarming black cloud once again. He moved differently this time, reforming behind him again would be predictable, so instead the wraith formed to the man's wounded side, aiming each shotgun for the man's chest, close quarters was a specialty of him and his favorite weapons.

76 twisted to react to the shadowy form that reappeared at his side. Gabriel smirked behind his mask, this man was fast, but not fast enough as his shotguns roared to life. One shot from each impacting the terrorist straight in the chest pulling a choked grunt from the man as he stumbled backwards. He had come here in order to check out his leads on Los Muertos and had, not only, confirmed a link between the gang and Talon, but he also managed to rid the world of 76. A surprisingly productive day.

The Reaper had about half a second to reflect on his accomplishments before a lance of pain shot through his leg, then his abdomen. The man had survived the initial hits and returned fire as his back hit the ground. A third shot hit his stomach as Gabriel twisted his body out of the way of future bullets and disarmed the man with a kick that sent the pulse rifle flying.

Swinging his guns around to fire again should have only taken a brief moment, a few more shots to finish off the, now weaponless, man whose chest was already Swiss cheese. Instead a bullet shot through his left arm in that split second before he could fire, another hit his chest and leg. It was getting difficult to hold himself together as he dissolved to avoid the rest of the hail of gunfire from an airship coming up over the far side of the warehouse. He hadn't heard it at all. Gabriel silently cursed himself, that was the second time in as many minutes he had been caught off guard.

The nanite cloud managed to growl in irritation as he was forced to flee before definitively finishing 76 off for good. He could only hope that the bastard died from the wounds he had inflicted. Sparing a glimpse back he noticed a soft golden glow in the distance and the man was standing upright aiming his gun in the wraith’s direction. It was easy enough to duck behind cover and watch as the man briefly searched for him, then turned and, with a running start, leapt a good 20-30 feet across the open air into the waiting aircraft.

Gabriel was sure of several things as the Talon transport set off, whatever business they had with Los Muertos having been concluded. One, he had found his first real lead into Talon. Someone involved in this deal on the gang’s side had to know something useful. Two, pulse rounds hurt like a bitch. Three, whoever this 76 was, he was not a normal human. No normal person could recover from injuries like that so easily. And four, Reaper was going to put an end to the murderous terrorist the next time he saw him.


	2. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack, a recall and a meeting in Giza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter to follow the animations and the comics directly. The biggest difference between this and canon, aside from the role reversal, is the way identities are discovered and not discovered. Also unbetad.

Gabriel stared at his old communicator hoping that at a certain point he would realize that what he was seeing and hearing was just in his head. He shouldn't have kept the damn thing, he knew that, but it was one of the few connections he still had to Jack. No force on this earth could have wrested it from him. Now it buzzed excitedly, the first sign of life it has shown in five years. Someone was recalling Overwatch agents back into active duty.

Thinking about it, he supposed it was better that he kept it and that he found out about the recall immediately. At least this way he could act appropriately and promptly to head off this monumentally stupid decision. They were being recalled to Watchpoint Gibraltar, which he knew for a fact was still kept somewhat active by Winston. Which meant the Gorilla was probably the one behind it all.

Blackwatch was consistently more useful to the former commander now, than it had ever been while he was in charge of it. He still had a backdoor into the system that not even Athena knew about, so he could get some answers remotely. He wanted to see if anyone had responded and what prompted it if possible.

He had to wait a few days to get a secure enough connection before he could get in, but when he got access to the camera feed he found the command center a mess. There was debris, scorch marks, clear signs of explosive damage, large bullet holes in the walls. Something had clearly happened here. He accessed the security recordings to find out, the system should be able to show him what happened.

Watching what he could of the events playing made him understand why Winston would do something as extreme as recalling Overwatch agents to action. The camera recordings gace a somewhat limited retelling of the events, but it was easy enough to suss out what happened. It looked like Winston would easily handle the strike team that had attacked the base before a familiar red glow walked in behind them. 

Whatever hacking device 76 attached to the computer must be impressive to get past Athena’s defenses, but he heard the AI screaming at Winston that it was happening. Gabriel only caught brief glimpses of the fight between the man working for Talon and the gorilla. His heart pounded in his chest as he heard something heavy crash into the ground out of range of the cameras..

“Stay down monkey,” He heard that same altered voice speak loudly. There was a tense silence before Athena’s voice broke it desperately.

“Winston, he’s going to have all agents locations!” A loud clap of some kind sounded and Reaper saw 76 launched across the room as Winston rushed up to stop whatever the mercenary was trying to do to the system. He let out a sigh of relief when Athena announced that she had quarantined the problem and restored the system. A few moments afterwards the recall went out.

Gabriel was somewhere between irritated and furious at the monkey when he had first received the call to return, now he wasn't so sure. If Talon and/or 76 had turned their attentions directly to the former members of Overwatch calling them back and working together may be the best thing they could do to protect each other. Alone and exposed, they would be easy targets for the terrorist, but even still it didn't sit right with him. His actions may have been the final stroke that killed the original organization, but it had been dying long before Zurich and he could not deal with that again.

That was a worry for later he reminded himself, pushing it to the back of his mind right now. Now, he was on a mission that if successful would make things easier on this newly reforming Overwatch. The trail he had picked up had led him to Egypt, near Giza. If this Shrike was the person he thought she was, than they had a lot to talk about, to catch up on. The trail led him to the compound of someone named Hakim. 

Making it over the wall without being noticed was simple enough. Stealth had always been something he excelled at, but since becoming Reaper it had become as simple as breathing.He searched the grounds for the nearest grunt he could find and take down without being noticed by anybody else. Descending on someone like a being of shadows and death was enough to scare information out of most people he had run into since the explosion.

“Where is he?” The sheer terror on the man’s face…….

“Right here,” That familiar filtered voiced called out behind him partially masked by several rifle shots. The first hit right through his heart, the second just below that. A third and fourth one ripped through his shoulder and abdomen before he could tear his body apart to avoid the rest. Reaper struggled to pull himself back together, he couldn't afford to be out of commission for a weak or two, couldn't afford to let himself fall apart completely.

“Never know what you're going to catch in a trap,” 76 laughed as Gabriel managed to reform himself lying on the ground struggling to get up. That rifle had done a number on him, that's for sure. “Will a bullet through the skull kill you?” The terrorist wondered aloud, Reaper looked up in time to see a rifle trained to take such a shot. He had no idea if it would kill him, he didn't understand much about how his body worked. Damnit, there was still so much to do.

A different shot rang out from a distance and 76 let out a grunt of surprise and pain and his aim dropped, a dart sticking out of his shoulder. The mercenary pulled the dart out of his shoulder, turning towards the direction of the shot. He rolled away as another shot rang out, this one hit Reaper in the chest. There was no pain from the shot, in fact it had quite the opposite effect. His wounds sealed up quickly, the pain diminished and he could move freely again, whatever was in that dart was impressively effective.

“Get in there!” The sniper, who went by the codename Shrike, shouted from her perch. The words spurred Gabriel into action as he launched himself at the masked man who was training his sights on the woman who had interrupted their fight. The terrorist’s rifle clamored as it hit the floor, the two men caught in a rolling melee. 

76 gained the upperhand long enough to break away, grab his rifle and fire a trio of rockets at where the sniper was perched. She responded quickly and nimbly scaling down the wall away from the explosion and safely on the other side of the wall. Gabriel had a few moments to consider a course of action. The reason for his visit was not 76 or this group working with Talon, it was the sniper who was slipping away from a dangerous situation.

Splitting himself apart, he followed after her. She had to have noticed him following her, he was not exactly trying to stay hidden from her after all, but she did not try to stop him. He imagined that Shrike was curious as to his intentions, they were on the same side effectively. They moved swiftly and silently, the woman guiding him to what was likely a safe house she was holed up in at the moment. Gabriel caught a brief glimpse of her entering a small house as he rounded another corner. The door was left open, an invitation if ever he's seen one.

The place was bare, likely abandoned, but useful for someone who needed a place to hole up briefly. A rifle was aimed at him when he entered, he raised his hands in surrender. Reaper wasn't here to fight her, no all he wanted right now was to know if what he suspected was true.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you for ruining weeks of work Reaper,” The mask did nothing to disguise her voice. It had aged, gotten softer, but it was still undeniably the woman he remembered. 

“You've heard of me?”

“Someone dressed like the specter of death wearing the symbol of a dead organization and saving people from street gangs attracts attention,” She replied impatiently. It was a fair point, he had sort of been making a name for himself recently. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you Ana,” The name passed his lips before he had even considered whether or not letting her know that he knew it was a good idea. Her body stiffened almost imperceptibly and her finger tensed on the trigger. He slowly reached for his own mask, willing himself together as best he could before he carefully removed it. She gasped when she saw the face beneath it, why he wore the mask in the first place.

“Gabriel! You're alive? What happened?”

“It's complicated,” He dismissed the question quickly. “I'm here because Winston initiated a recall,”

“It's been almost six years. What changed?”

“Talon and 76. They attacked Watchpoint Gibraltar and tried to steal the agent database from Athena,” His voice was a low growl as he remembered the footage he watched.

“Why the sudden interest?”

“I'm not sure what Talon’s goals are, but I've been looking into 76 and he's been hunting down Overwatch members,” 

“So he wants the database to find more of them,” She pondered the thought.

“Yeah. They might be safer if they team up, but they have no idea what they're up against,”

“Who's responded?”

“It hasn't been very long, I heard that Tracer did and I wouldn't be surprised if Reinhardt joined up soon. None of them know what it's like to run something like this. They also don't understand the danger they are putting themselves in,”

“So are you going to join?”

“I didn't want to, but yes. You can introduce me. I don't want them knowing who I am,”

“And why would I want that?”

“You know exactly what Fareeha is going to do when she hears about this Ana,” The sniper’s shoulders slumped.

“Yes I do and I'll need to be there to keep her safe,”

“We can keep them all safe. We have to for…” He trailed off unable to finish the thought.

“If only Jack were here,”

“You think I don't miss him too?” His voice rose angrily. “I know that I should be dead and Jack should be here, but he's not and it's my fault.” His voice choked as he continued, tears threatening to fall. “He's gone and it's my fault Ana. But, I am still here and someone has to protect what's left of our family,” His hands had drifted to his guns before he could stop himself.

Silence permeated the room as Reaper worked to bring himself back under control, slowly releasing the grip he had on his weapons. Ana finally removed her own mask, her face soft and sympathetic as she gently rubbed circles into his back. Meeting his old friend, long thought dead, seeing her face for the first time in near a decade, finally talking about what happened, it was too much. Gabriel Reyes fell to his knees and cried for the first time since Mercy pulled him back from the grave and he learned that Jack was dead, that he was alone.


	3. Serious Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talon's favorite mercenary shows up to show Reaper and his team why he is quite possibly the most feared individual on the planet. The man proves to be as dangerous as people fear him to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was super fun and rather difficult to write. Most of it is an extended action sequence that I hope flows as well as I think it does. Basically this chapter is 76 kicking all kinds of ass. A lot of people seem to play down or ignore that he is a genetically enhanced super soldier while I've decided to play that up. 
> 
> As always kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, a big thank you for everyone who has left some. I am particularly interested in people critiquing the flow of action in this chapter. I think I actually did a decent job and I would love to see what other people think I did well with and how I can improve them in the future.

Christmas came not long after their meeting. With it came reminiscing about the past and planning their next moves. They debated sticking around to finish what Ana had come here to do in the first place, but with 76 present it seemed like a bad idea. They might have argued about it some more until they got word of the trouble at the temple of Anubis. God AIs and helix security was involved, which meant Fareeha was probably involved, which of course meant they needed to check on her.

 

Ana was simultaneously distressed and proud when they learned that her daughter had managed to stop Anubis before any real damage could be done. On the one hand her daughter was fighting to protect people, but on the other hand she shouldn't have to be fighting the remnants of their war. This should have ended with Overwatch the first time, not be inherited by the next generation. A selfish victory occurred for her when she learned that a complicated contract dispute had her daughter locked in with Helix for a while longer, though she knew what would happen once that was dealt with.

 

The decision to reveal herself to the newly reformed Overwatch was not made lightly, but she and Gabriel had decided that they needed to look after them and this was the best way to join. Gabriel refused to reveal himself, they still thought of him as a traitor after all and as far as he was concerned the man died in Zurich five years ago. 

 

The reunion went well. Reaper watched as people hugged and cried. He smiled as Jesse McCree waffled back and forth between wanting to hug her and wanting to shoot her for leaving them, not that he was in a much better position there. Everyone’s focus eventually shifted to Reinhardt’s reaction. Gabriel had never seen someone so angry, sad and relieved all at the same time. No one payed much attention to the ghost she brought with her which suited Reaper just fine.

 

There was new blood in the organization, a freedom fighter from Brazil and a gamer turned soldier from Korea. They were basically children and they didn't understand what they were up against. McCree came running back of course, but surprisingly so did Genji. Things had changed for the better for him, Gabriel was happy for that, he had been through a lot. He brought others with him though, an Omnic monk Zenyatta and his own fratricidal brother Hanzo. Those who knew Genji from before were concerned, but he defended his brother fiercely and who was anyone else to dictate their relationship.

 

Tracer responded of course and Reinhardt followed suit. The man could not leave a battle unchallenged after all. Ana joining back up brought their collective spirits soaring and she had the command experience that Winston lacked. Experience that would help to keep them safe. The team was strange and Reaper found himself surprised by the capabilities of the new blood that had joined. They could be impressive together given time and guidance.

 

Time was, unfortunately, not something they had in abundance. There first few missions were small, but successful. Intel gathering and thwarting not just Talon, but also problems with this Omnic crisis brewing in Russia. Lucio and D.Va proved themselves surprisingly capable. The girl was skilled with her Meka, which handled Itself under fire, providing exceptional active cover. Whatever technology the Brazilian kid was using worked, Reaper didn't understand how or why, but he used music to enhance his teammates work and wasn’t bad with that strange gun of his.

 

They had just begun to get a feel for the other members, just begun to learn how to work together on the field. Reaper was sent out on a retrieval mission. McCree, Lucio, Hanzo, Genji, Lena and Reinhardt accompanied them. They expected heavy resistance, hence sending along the crusader with the rest of the rather large team, but everything started out really well. They were coordinated, everyone listened as McCree led them; he made a great leader when he stopped acting like an idiot. Talon hadn’t expected them and they managed to blow through their grunts with ease and take the package, some kind of computer core in a thick briefcase.

 

They were awaiting their evac, package in tow, when it happened. Reaper felt a slight pain in his chest briefly before his entire body exploded in agony. He fell to his knees as he tried desperately to break himself apart and escape whatever was causing him this pain, but no matter how hard he tried, he stayed solid, rooted to the spot.

 

Before he could even begin to figure out what to do he heard two gunshots and a loud pained scream, Lucio. He turned to face where the scream had come from with great effort, only to come face to face with a familiar mask. The rest of his team must have also turned towards the intruder. Reinhardt charged the man before anyone could speak or even really react. Lucio screaming in pain was all he needed to react.

 

Jesse called out to him clearly noticing, at about the same time Gabriel did, that the response had been expected, goaded even. 76 walked forward calmly as a rocket powered metal giant flew towards him in a frenzy. The mercenary was dragging Lucio along the ground behind him by the hair, Gabriel could see him bleeding. The poor kid’s kneecaps were blown out so he couldn’t skate around. Reinhardt reacted predictably as the masked man held the bleeding, whimpering DJ between him and the rushing crusader. The rocket booster cut off before he accidentally hurt Lucio and the large man stumbled to stop and regain control of himself.

 

76 dropped the Brazilian, who fell to the floor in a pained heap. The terrorist took advantage of the crusader’s momentum and lack of balance and bodily threw him over his shoulders where the old German hit the ground with a loud thud, dazed for the moment. An arrow shot down from Hanzo’s perch, atop the nearby roof as 76 made swift work of removing Reinhardt’s helmet, the archer being the first person to react sensibly to the situation. The masked man nimbly dodged the silent projectile. Spinning swiftly, a strange mechanical bar glowing in front of his eyes. The damn mask was a tactical visor, of course it was, that was how he noticed the damn arrow in time.

 

With mechanically enhanced aim his rifle shot a trio of missiles at the building the sniper was perched on. Debris flew everywhere as an explosion rocked the building’s foundation and the portion of it the sniper was on collapsed. Hanzo lept away from the roof to avoid being buried by the collapsing structure, a mistake as three quick pulse rounds found purchase in his body, one in his dominant shoulder, one in the stomach and the last in the chest, inches from his heart. The archer fell heavily from the air, facing the ground bleeding and unmoving. 

 

Reaper growled as he struggled to move. This was bad, the kid was their medic and he was down while the elder Shimada was bleeding out very quickly. McCree, Tracer and Genji all reacted in near unison. The gunslinger was forced to roll away from the falling debris to get a clear shot, bringing his gun out as he did so. Genji unsheathed his sword with a roar and dashed nimbly towards the man who had just shot the cyborg’s brother. All the while Tracer pulls her own pistols out and rapidly blinks to the other side of the masked man, checking up on the still dazed Reinhardt.

 

76 didn't even bother to dodge the sword being aimed at him. Instead, he used his arm to catch it, the blade sinking down into his forearm, through the armored jacket, stopping only once it hit bone. He staggered back, but no pained sounds escaped from behind that mask. McCree followed up with a quick shot that lodged itself in 76’s shoulder instead of his heart as the staggering back threw his aim off slightly. The gunslinger regained his bearings, recovering from his roll and lined up a shot straight to the bastards head.

 

Jesse pulled the trigger, the mercenary spun as he and the ninja grappled and suddenly Genji was his target instead. The cyborg reacted quickly, his sword dislodging itself and with a quick spin he deflected the bullet away from himself. A swift hard kick to the back his legs collapsed Genji to his knees as 76 plunged a combat knife into his right shoulder in the perfect spot to render it nonfunctional. A shot caught the mercenary right between the eyes, his mask chipped slightly but held against the revolver’s shot.

 

The gunslinger adjusted, aiming instead for the man’s heart. The next shot impacted, right in the sternum, as the masked man brought the butt of his rifle down hard on the side of the cyborg’s head. The ninja fell to the ground stunned as three more shots rang out. 76 could not dodge the cowboy’s bullets entirely, but none of them found the target they were actually looking for. Anyone else would have gone down after 4 bullets to the chest, but this man hardly seemed bothered by it as he brought his rifle to bare.

 

Tracer was back in the fight, Reinhardt climbing to his feet behind her. She was on their assailant in a split second, though not fast enough to stop the first shot out of that rifle. It found purchase in McCree’s mechanical shoulder with a loud clatter, rendering the entire contraption useless, his gun falling from the metal hand. Tracer interrupted any plan to follow up as her guns firing forced the man with the rifle to dodge away.

 

She blinked around him dodging and shooting, his armor absorbing her individual shots much more effectively than the cowboy’s. After a few seconds of this treatment 76 brought his rifle to bear at an empty spot and fired another trio of rockets. Moments before they exploded against the ground Tracer blinked nearby. The edge of the explosion caught her and she lost her footing. She reversed herself in time a few seconds before the man could get a good shot at her, but he seemed to have been expecting that. As soon as she reappeared a short distance away the butt of his rifle made contact with her chest with a loud crack. She attempted to blink away, but when she vanished this time she did not reappear.

 

76’s attention strayed too far from the big German man behind him as a massive hammer swung down at him. The mercenary had only a split second to move his arms to take the brunt of the hit as it sent him flying several feet through the air. A soft grunt of pain escaped the masked man for the first time in the fight when he landed with a thud. There was no time to celebrate anything at the sight as 76 recovered quickly to toss a grenade into the center of the group of fallen agents. 

 

The crusader did exactly what his namesake would imply the moment he realized that his friends were in danger. He threw himself on the grenade so it would only harm him. His armor was thick and he was tough, he could take it. There was no explosion, merely a discharge of electricity that easily wound its way along the surface of Reinhardt's armor and into his body through hole where his helmet should have been. His body convulsed briefly and then was completely still.

 

“Don't move,” Jesse’s voice called out as 76 rose back to his feet. The mercenary ignored him, instead moving to reclaim his rifle. The cowboy shot, his aim wide. “I said freeze,” The man’s voice was somewhere between pained and seething with hatred.

 

“You're the only one left,” That distorted voice taunted Jesse. “Think you can do this on your own?” McCree didn’t respond and the mercenary ignored his gun. “Do you know what this is?” He asked holding up a metallic cylinder to the cowboy. Reaper recognized it immediately and from the looks of it so did the gunslinger.

 

“Biotic emitter,” Jesse replied quickly, suddenly unsure of himself. The device could deploy specially engineered nanites that very effectively healed wounds in the field. The nanites were very expensive and had a very short life span once the field was activated, so these devices were rare and expensive.

 

“That's right,” His tone was condescending, Gabriel could just imagine the smirk beneath the mask. “Your archer friend is bleeding out quickly and the kid is not doing much better. You give me what I came for willingly and this little trinket makes sure they don’t have to die right now,” Reaper knew McCree well enough to know what he would do. The thought confirmed when the cowboy slowly lowered his gun. “Now drop it,” McCree did as he was told, it was stupid to give up his only weapon against the mercenary, but he wouldn’t let his teammates die if he could help it. “Good boy, now get me that computer core you stole.”

 

Jesse did as he was told, the case was not really hidden, in fact 76 could probably see the damn thing from where he had stood. It sounded like he simply wanted to gloat. Reaper watched the exchange, watched as the mercenary smashed the butt of his rifle into Jesse’s temple and he fell to the ground unconscious once the handoff was complete. He watched in stunned silence as the masked man dropped the biotic emitter to the ground between Lucio and Hanzo and a soft yellow glow enveloped them, surprised that he kept his end of the bargain. 

 

He stood in the middle of the biotic field himself, stretching his arms and legs as the nanites worked to repair the damage done to his body as well. Once he was satisfied with their progress he turned to face Reaper for the first time since the encounter began. He sauntered over to where Reaper still fought to move his body, the briefcase holding the computer core in one hand, rifle lazily held over his shoulder with his other hand. The man suddenly turned his head slightly to the side and he spoke to someone who was likely monitoring his progress.

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, your agents were worthless, but I got the package. I'll be at the extraction point in ten. Don't make me wait,” The mercenary’s attention returned to the only conscious opponent he had left. “Nice team you've got here Reaper,” The wraith growled in response, still unable to actually form words. “This new Overwatch is, at the very least, entertaining. Can't say I've had this much fun in years,” 

 

Gabriel did not understand why this asshole hadn’t killed his teammates, why he was wasting time right now. It only infuriated him more. This man was toying with him, with all of them. If he didn’t kill Reaper right now there was no way in hell the wraith was going to return the favor when the tables were turned. Being merciful was never his strong suit.

 

“This brings the score in our little game to me with one win and you with two,” 76 squatted down to bring his mask level with Reaper’s own. “It would be a waste to kill you and your friends while I am currently losing,” Was this asshole really treating their fights like it was some damn game? “I'll tie up our little score next time, after that I won't have any reason to let you and your heroic friends live. Consider it incentive to improve your performance,” There was a short pause as those red glowing eyes stared at Reaper. “I'm tempted to take off that mask and see what's underneath it, but i suppose that would be unsportsmanlike right now. I am losing after all,”

 

76 turned away with a cruel laugh, it sounded inhuman through the mechanical filter he used. Gabriel could only watch helplessly as the man calmly walked away, his prize in hand. Several minutes passed and the buzz that held his body agonizingly in place faded away. He moved rapidly the moment he could, ignoring the agony left behind that still attacked his form. Hanzo had a pulse, was breathing, same with Lucio who must have blacked out at some point because he was also unconscious. He let out a sigh of relief before calling back to HQ.

 

“Ana, Winston come in,” Reaper called out over their line.

 

“Ana here. What's going on there?” He was relieved to hear her voice even if it was full of worry.

 

“Things went FUBAR. We lost the case. Hanzo is hurt bad, Lucio’s also down, Lena’s missing,”

 

“What happened?”

 

“76 showed up, got the better of us. The wounded are stable, I think. We used a biotic emitter to treat the worst of it, but they still need medical attention,”

 

“Your evac should only be a few minutes out. Mercy arrived on base while you were out. She’ll be standing by. Should be ready by the time you get here,” the revelation that Mercy had answered the recall was both shocking and worrying. Reaper did not want to see her, she also knew who he was which complicated things. At the very least there was no one else he would trust to keep these people patched up and alive than her, despite his misgivings. “How's everyone else doing?”

 

“Not great Ana. He did a number on us. We… I couldn’t stop him,”

 

“You can’t win every fight Reaper. As long as everyone is coming home alive there will be a next time,”

 

“Tracer vanished Ana. I have no idea where she is or if we can even help,”

 

“It's happened before, we’ll find her. Winston knows what he's doing. Trust him to bring her back. Just bring everyone else home.”

 

“I won’t let this happen again,”

 

“I know. Evac should be there momentarily. Come home safe. Ana out,” The voice called out, the communication ending.

 

McCree and and Genji were up by the time the ship landed, each with only one working arm. They brought Hanzo and Lucio on board easily enough, but they had to work together to get the crusader on board. That armor was damned heavy. The ride back to Gibraltar was quiet, more than half the team was unconscious or missing. Genji and McCree sat worried over the fallen archer, the cyborg muttering in Japanese and the cowboy promising to murder that son of a bitch next time.

 

Reaper needed to find out what the man had done to incapacitate him. He couldn’t let the man take him out so easily again. They also needed to go over what they did wrong so that if they find him again, this whole thing doesn’t happen again. He would have to trust that Winston could bring Tracer back. They would get back on their feet after this and he would make sure 76 regretted his decision to threaten the people under his care and to play with him.


	4. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to come to a head here really soon. What will happen when identities are revealed and what will Sombra have to do with all of this?

Reaper had insisted on what many might call a brutal training regimen in wake of their loss to 76. They had to be able to work together better if none of the, was capable of taking the man out by themselves. Gabriel knew how to train a team, to get them to act, to breathe as one. It was necessary when he was running Blackwatch, the sensitive missions required precision to complete effectively.

He could live with the irritation everyone felt for him as he drilled them. Their annoyance at the trust that was placed in this strange masked vigilante was understandable, but Gabriel ignored it. All that mattered was that the next time they met that terrorist they were going to put him into the ground. So he continued to work them to exhaustion so that when it mattered they would react quickly and together.

He had avoided Ziegler since the incident even as she patched up the rest of the team. She knew who he was, it was her fault that the Reaper existed like this. It was, perhaps, unfair for him to blame Mercy for what had happened, to hold this grudge. But, he had not wished to be brought back like this. Without Jack he had struggled for a reason to even continue this farce of a life and found it in doing what he believed his sunshine would have done. He could live up to the man’s legacy, it was the least he could do.

In hindsight Gabriel should have expected it when Jesse walked up to him out of the blue one day and nearly knocked his ass out with a right hook to the side of his face. Anger and hurt registered on the cowboy's face was all that Reaper needed to know that McCree had figured out who he was. The training he was putting them through had been the dead giveaway, few people knew him as well as the kid he mentored all those years ago. Now three people on base knew who he was, though luckily the kid knew how to keep a secret.

Winston somehow brought Tracer back from wherever she had gone and the entire base rejoiced. An impromptu party was held because as far as many of them were concerned she had just come back from the dead. Many of them, especially the younger ones weren't there the first time she vanished. She joined their training to be ready for future missions.

They stopped a heist at the Overwatch museum that 76 had launched along with the woman known as widowmaker. That brought their score to three for Gabriel and One for 76. The thought irritated him to no end because it meant he was falling into the trap of playing the bastard’s game. But if the bastard wanted a go at Gabriel Reyes, Reaper would make sure that he won.

They were ambushed as they tried to secretly escort the Doomfist gauntlet somewhere safer. 76, Widowmaker and a small host of goons came at them. They were ready this time though. They had trained to fight together, to cover each other effectively. Reaper got a solid hit in on the masked man before sniper fire forced him to retreat. It felt good to hear the asshole yelp in pain.

The fight raged on for a long time, but Overwatch pushed them back. The thrill of victory was short lived. A powerful explosion rocked the ground from seemingly halfway across the city. It was followed shortly by a few more.

“Our job here is done,” 76 announced loudly at the commotion. Reaper could hear the smug smile in his voice.

They disappeared as quickly as they had shown up, leaving Reaper and his team to figure out what had happened. They had been distracted and whilst the fight with Talon had been going on someone had stolen the gauntlet and made mincemeat of the OR-14s that had tried to stop him. Gabriel cursed himself as he realized that 76 had won this round. The score was now 3-2.

He could barely recall the events that led to their score being tied. One minute he and Jesse were infiltrating a Vishkar office and the next he had tackled the cowboy to the ground and wrapped himself protectively around the kid. The heat and force of the explosion threatened to tear his body apart, but he held onto his form with all of his might. His body could handle this, Jesse’s could not.

“Looks like we're all tied up now,” That distorted voice called out as the roar of the explosion died down. “Shame too. I guess next time we meet will be our last,” Reaper didn't respond, he couldn't at the moment. Instead, he wrapped himself tighter around Jesse. He was not going to let the bastard hurt the damn kid.

No attack came however. The masked man merely walked on by after his little speech leaving the two of them to pick themselves up and return to the base empty handed. The explosion had not only nearly killed them, but also took out the servers they had been sent to extract data from. 

Reaper had not expected Talon to be bold enough to attack them in the streets in broad daylight with old Omnics from the war. They had fucking Bastion units shooting into the city without a thought for the civilian casualties they might incur. He could almost feel the anger Jack would have felt at such a reckless disregard for human lives that was being put on display right here.

He was pulled out of his own thoughts when he heard the telltale sounds of a pulse rifle being fired. Only one person working with Talon used such a weapon and he scanned the entire area for the bastard. His agents fought to contain the situation when he spotted the origin point for the man’s rifle fire. Above them, on the roof of an 8 story building nearby.

The bastard was gunning for his agents. The realization sparked a fury in Gabriel that he had not felt in many years. His body tore itself to pieces bringing him to the top of the 8 story office building the man was shooting from. They stared each other down for a split second before their dance began. 

The mercenary’s rifle was out of his hands before he could get a shot off, but the man was quick and skilled with a combat knife so Reaper’s shotguns fared no better. The wraith’s claws were more than a match for anything that 76 could throw at him. They struck, blocked, dodged and parried everything the other threw out. 

It frustrated Gabriel to no end how relatively evenly matched the two of them were, but what bothered him more was the joy the murderous bastard seemed to be deriving from it all. The fucker actually laughed as they traded blows back and forth. He even laughed as Reaper pinned him to the ground, talons wrapped around the man’s throat. 

The snarl he unleashed was cut short as a soft shot rang out from beneath him and a stinging pain engulfed his entire body. The man was holding what looked like a tranquilizer gun when he kicked the wraith off of him. The same thing that had incapacitated him in their first major confrontation wracked his body. He was ready this time though. Before it could take his toll, the moment 76 let his guard down, he used every ounce of strength he had to tackle the man. They fell together eight stories off the side of the building.

A loud thud and a soft grunt escaped 76 as they crashed into the ground harshly. The terrorist’s body had shielded Reaper’s fall and he struggled to stand, whatever the bastard had shot him with was working its magic and his body struggle to comply with his desires. He collapsed to the ground moments after rising to his feet, facing the man who had tried to kill him and his agents time and time again. 

Gabriel’s heart sank as he noticed that 76 was still breathing. His anxiety increased tremendously when the man began to struggle his way back to his feet. The monster laughed as he pulled out another biotic emitter, taking a seat by Reaper’s paralyzed form, allowing the nanites within to repair the damage Gabriel had managed to do to him.

“Welp, I told you what wa going to happen once our little game was all tied up,” The man’s modulated voice grated on his every nerve. “But since you’ve been such a great distraction I'm going to be very nice and give you a choice,”

"Fuck you,” The mercenary laughed.

“Not one of the choices. Talon has offered me a lot to bring you to them alive. They want to know what makes you tick. However, instead of letting them do horrible things to you, You could choose a swift and painless death," An extended silence filled the space between them. “Let's see what's under this ridiculous mask while we wait,”

Reaper wanted to retort, tell him that his mask was just as stupid, but he was too busy trying to break apart his face so that he wouldn't be recognized. Whatever he had been hit with had weakened his fine control over the nanites inside his body. His face was as whole as it could possibly be as the mask is forcibly removed from his face and he hears 76 cursing loudly.

“Son of a fucking bitch!” He tapped at the side of his mask suddenly. Gabriel fought back the panic that threatened to engulf him. “Sombra, I know you're listening. Secure channel now!” The man all but shouted into his comms. “Change of plans. I need an untraceable transport, fast and flight capable and I need it yesterday,” There was a pause as he probably listened to this Sombra person on the other end. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just track me to the safe house I've got picked out for this. You’ll definitely be interested in what I've got to show you,”

“What happened to letting me choose what happens?” It may not have been the best idea to taunt the man, but he wasn't going to just sit there and let these evil fucks do whatever they wanted.

“That was before I knew who you were. No way in hell am I giving Blackwatch commander Gabriel Reyes to Talon,” Being recognized was the last thing that Reaper had wanted now he had been by 76 if all people. He had no idea what the monster would want with him, but it was not going to be pretty.

A small stealth craft dropped down beside them several minutes later as the battle between Talon and Overwatch continued without them. Reaper had expected the terrorist to leave him and rejoin the fight, but he seemed entirely uninterested after he had realized who his prisoner really was? Instead the masked man searched his body for his communicator and crushed it before he tossed him into the small plane and took the two of them away from the battlefield.

He lost track of how long they were flying away from his team, stuck in the back unable to see and unable to track time. The mercenary was uncharacteristically silent. He would usually be gloating or at least taunting him for his victory or with what he was going to do to him. Instead, he seemed lost in his own head, clearly unprepared to deal with the current revelation.

They landed and he was roughly dragged out of the vehicle and found himself staring at a small facility built into the wall of a mountain, hidden from view. His mind raced trying to figure out where they were. It was a state of the art facility that still had power and that meant it had been expensive. Somewhere in an unfamiliar mountain range he was bodily dragged into a large windowless room and unceremoniously dumped there. 76 pulled that damned tranq gun out again and aimed a shot at Reaper’s heart.

“Take a nap,” Gabriel wanted to retort, to snarl. Anything to show his defiance to the monster who had kidnapped him. Instead his body surrendered itself to the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.


End file.
